King’s Lynn University campus plans submitted

Plans have been submitted to build a £6.5 million university campus in Lynn .

The College of West Anglia will be applying for grants to put up a “flagship building” in a bid to encourage more people into higher education and meet the skills shortage in the area.

An application for the 2,000sqm building, which would include 14 digitally enabled classrooms and 120 seat multi-media lecture theatre, has been submitted to West Norfolk Council earlier this week. The building could take 500 students.

West Norfolk is reported to be a national “cold spot” for higher education participation and local employers have difficulty in finding higher skilled staff, the application states.

As previously reported, the college has no confirmed funding for the build and says this is an aspiration.

College principal and chief executive David Pomfret said: “The proposed investment in a flagship building for the University Centre West Anglia will create a high-quality teaching and learning facility that is currently not available within a 40 mile radius of Lynn.

“With a clear focus on higher-level skills the centre will work closely with local employers to identify labour market needs across the priority economic sectors and to address these needs via appropriate higher-level education and training.

“It will provide young people and adults of the area with new opportunities for progression in learning and skills directly related to the requirements of the local and regional economy.”

The college will be donating land at its site and will be applying to Local Enterprise Partnerships for grants for the build.

The building could cope with 500 students and the college hopes to double its HE students from 200 to 400 over a three year period.

The earliest start date for the project could be 2015.

The college has not yet decided what courses will be offered but say there could be higher vocational training.

The application refers to strengthening links with food and farming sectors and the agri-tech industry.